- Military
- NORAD 43446
- 2018-036F
- Inclined geosynchronous
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Indian Ocean
Orbit ends over the Indian Ocean
In view from you
Nobody watches USA 286 go over, but a receiver still asks whether it is above the horizon. Say where you are and this card answers.
Your position is rounded to about a kilometre and sent only to the Orbinauts API, to find the pass.
No brightness has been published for USA 286, so it is not a naked-eye satellite and no city page carries pass times for it. Nothing here estimates one.
Seeing it
There is nothing to go outside for: it is too faint to see with the naked eye from anywhere on Earth.
Timeline
- Launch
Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source
Summary
Over the Indian Ocean LIVE
Where is USA 286?
At 6:20:46 PM UTC USA 286 was over the Indian Ocean (4.6° S, 63.9° E), 35,316 km up, moving at 3.09 km/s and in sunlight.
What is USA 286?
A satellite in an inclined geosynchronous orbit, in space since Apr 14, 2018.
Can I see USA 286?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for USA 286, and nothing here estimates one.
General
- Operator
- US Air Force Research Laboratories/RV (Space Vehicles Directorate)
- State
- United States of America
- Built by
- Orbital ATK
- Military
- Yes: a defence organisation flies it
- Launched
- Mass
- 100 kg
- Operating
- No: its regular operations have ended
- Orbit class
- Inclined geosynchronous
From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, that a defence organisation flies it, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.
Latest orbital data
- Position received
- 6:20 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 6:20 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 4.6° S, 63.9° E
- Altitude
- 35,316 km
- Speed
- 3.09 km/s (11,124 km/h)
- Course
- north
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 7.5°
- Orbital period
- 1,410.1 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 1.02
- This orbit
- 35,231 to 35,323 km
- In shadow
- None of this orbit
- In view from
- Within 7,930 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 4, 2026, 9:37 PM, 3 days old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 4, 2026, 9:37 PM, 3 days old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for USA 286, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to USA 286 has been reported publicly in the past thirty days.
From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 8, 2026, 1:11 PM, 3 hours old. Only approaches serious enough to be reported publicly are listed: within three days and, for two bodies near the Earth, closer than a kilometre with a chance of a collision above 1 in 10,000, the level at which NASA moves the ISS.
Launched with
USA 286 shares its launch, 2018-036, with 4 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.
| Body | What it is |
|---|---|
| USA 283 | Communications satellite |
| ATLAS CENTAUR R/B | Rocket body |
| ATLAS CENTAUR DEB | Debris |
| USA 285 | Satellite |
Read from the international designators of the US catalogue: the year and the launch number every piece of one launch shares. A body that has come down is no longer listed.
Data and API
The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 4, 2026, 9:37 PM, 3 days old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "USA 286",
"OBJECT_ID": "2018-036F",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-04T21:37:06.616128",
"MEAN_MOTION": 1.02121336,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.0011147,
"INCLINATION": 7.4522,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 65.1905,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 172.1411,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 168.9811,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 43446,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 2835,
"BSTAR": 0,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -9.4e-7,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}